Over 30 years ago, researchers and geriatricians identified an "elder orphan" (sometimes called a "solo ager") as a person aging alone with little support. But when my Elder Orphan Facebook group targeting this population launched over 2 1/2 years ago, little was known about them. Even then, few realized that the hardships faced by older people with no nearby family members could be any different from those of others aging at home.
Health care professionals and companies tend to lump the older population into four segments: ages 55 to 64, 65 to 74, 75 to 84, and 85 and older. It’s assumed that people in these age brackets deal with, or eventually could deal with, similar concerns relating to health, housing, transportation, caregiving and safety. But those concerns are further magnified for those who do not have a support system, and that number may be higher than you imagine. For example, in Dallas, where I live, 30 percent of people 65 and older live alone.
Thankfully, through the dedicated service of social workers, gerontologists and geriatricians, the unique challenges of the solo ager have been identified. The most recent research project, headed by Rupal Parekh, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Texas at Arlington, School of Social Work, with the Elder Orphan Group, uncovers the preliminary data that brings clarity about the issues facing this segment of the population.
The Unique Differences of Solo Agers
Since founding the Elder Orphan Facebook group, one insight I’ve gained is that its members with offspring feel the most isolated and alone when distance keeps them apart from family. And those who never had children have learned to build social networks of friends.
To have the support of someone when you're sick and confined to a bed is important for everyone, but our research found that 39 percent of study participants had no one to call in that situation.
Some members of the group have created a support team and text each other by a certain time of the day or call by phone. If there is no response, they have a contingency plan of action. Their strategy offers peace of mind and causes the members to feel they have someone to count on.
One individual and a set of eight friends have taken it to the extreme; they've committed to be there for one another and even to serve as legal guardians. As a group, they’ve consulted with an attorney who set up the necessary documents.
Legal Medical Decisions
All types of needs for assistance increase with age, but interventions for making health care decisions are the biggest concern. Traditionally, such collaboration has been provided by family members. When someone is aging alone, it is often not clear who can and will be available to support him or her, or who will be serve as the health care proxy if necessary.
Without a supportive infrastructure, those aging alone are at risk for lack of care, inadequate care or care that goes against their wishes.
Our research has taken a closer look into this issue and discovered 43 percent of our members have not identified a health care decision maker. They say they “haven’t gotten around to it,” but note that when they do, they plan to pull together a team of health care professionals.
Events such as loss of support system (which could occur with the death of a family member or friends; multiple chronic health issues; a fall or other physical limitations could be the causes for their inability to make health care decisions.
However, the preliminary data revealed that more than 27 percent have fallen at home in the last six months; 26 percent live with three or more chronic illnesses and 35 percent do not have family or friends to help them cope with life's challenges. It makes sense that more would have their medical decision making plans in place, but that’s often not the case.
One person in the Elder Orphan group admitted, “I couldn't get motivated until I had episodes of falling. This got my attention.”
Another said, “I have an advance directive and health care proxy filed with my primary care doctor. What I don't have is an executor, and I can't think of a younger person I know well or trust enough to ask.”
Help Needed Thinking Through Decisions
Being an administrator of the Elder Orphan Group, it’s my opinion that members who have lost husbands and the single parents live the most insulated lives, compared to single or divorced individuals without adult children.
However, both groups have trouble finding someone close to them who can provide help when it comes to thinking through vital decisions or calling for information about them. The preliminary data shows close to 33 percent have someone, but only some of the time. And 55 percent have no one with whom to discuss medical decisions.
Most in the group want to connect socially. It’s a huge desire and that’s proven by the high-level number of interactions on Facebook. They also want to learn new skills and to work. But when it comes to having a list of reliable contacts, the solo ager often comes up short.
The Research Tells Many Stories
Here's a little bit about the people who comprise The Elder Orphan Group:
They are well educated; preliminary data reveals that over 70 percent are college graduates, 30 percent of those earned a master’s degree and 7 percent earned a Ph.D. or a medical degree.Those who are still working make a fairly decent income.Although exercise is recognized as the best way for adults to help ward off chronic illnesses and is touted to slow the effects of aging, 29 percent of the solo agers report they don’t do any moderate exercise.Most significantly, I want to clarify that the issues described above don’t solely affect those who are single and alone, but also those who have family. That’s the significance of this research; to diminish the perception that people with family don’t experience isolation and loneliness.
The research intends to develop a stronger understanding of older adults who are aging alone and have limited support within the U.S. We know that elders aging alone are often a hidden population, so academic studies can help bring voice and understanding of the needs and challenges.
It’s my hope to pique the interest of research scientists and to encourage investment in aging. But also, by using the members’ stories along with the eyebrow-raising stats, I want to give hope and solutions to those outside the group and the professionals who work with them.
While research helps raise awareness and uncovers unrealized data, even the most rigorous statistics lose impact if the analysis is not communicated to decision makers who need to know.


Identifying the Unique Challenges of Solo Agers

Carol Marak

With her recent book, Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers: A retirement and aging roadmap for single and childless adults, Sara Zeff Geber brought the term “solo agers” into the national vocabulary. By Geber’s definition, a solo ager (sometimes called an “elder orphan”) is a boomer without children and/or grandchildren. Geber, a 2018 Influencer in Aging based in Santa Rosa, Calif., is a retirement coach for boomers, a life planning and retirement transition expert, a professional speaker, a workshop leader and a Forbes contributor. She has a Ph.D. in organizational behavior.
Next Avenue: Your bio says: Sara has been among the first professionals in the field to recognize that the baby boom generation would re-invent the whole notion of retirement in a very exciting way. Tell me about that.
Sara Zeff Geber: In 2010, nobody was talking about this. Boomers were primarily in the workforce. I was looking at the trajectory of the boomer generation and what we’ve changed in society and the likely changes we will enact in our later years. Now, we’re starting to see them bigtime.
Why is there so much interest in solo agers now? 
For one thing, there are so many of us. Almost 20 percent of boomers don’t have kids and as I keep being told in my talks, solo aging is not limited to people who don’t have kids. Lots of people are aging alone with kids who live a long way away and a lot of them don’t want to rely on their kids.
Some people refer to older adults without children as ‘elder orphans,’ but you don’t like that term and many others don’t either. Why?
I hate that term. I find it offensive; the word ‘orphans’ has always had a negative connotation. I wanted to use words that are positive or at least neutral. I think I coined the term ‘solo ager’ eight years ago and now I’m pleased others are using it.
What are the challenges and opportunities solo agers face that are different than other people?
Opportunities? You absolutely have a lot more freedom to decide where you’re going to live. You don’t have the tug of kids or grandkids to live in a particular climate you don’t want. And you can go wherever you want.
What do people ask you about solo agers when you give talks about it?
People are very interested in the topic of where they should live. I’m not the biggest fan of aging in place; I like to see people focus on aging in community. It’s so important to build and maintain a social support network. I encourage people to think through to the end of life when we need people around us.
What do solo agers need to do first for their retirement planning?
They should use professionals like financial advisers and estate attorneys and get their paperwork in order — advance directives, wills, trusts, powers of attorney. That forces solo agers to think through: ‘Who will I name on those documents?’ And they have to talk to those people; you can’t just name them and let it go. You need to tell them your values and your vision for your future.
What happens when a solo ager asks someone to be in charge of their end-of-life wishes?
I can’t say people are always very gracious and say: ‘Yes, I’d be happy to do it.’ They’re not always comfortable at first. Help them understand you need people in your corner as a solo ager. If you tell me ‘I asked one person and she declined,’ I say: ‘Move on to the next person.’
I encourage people to start with family: a niece or nephew who lives near them.
What happens is often people go into a crisis after a fall or a medical event and there they are in the hospital and somebody needs to be there as an advocate waving paperwork saying: ‘I am power of attorney.’
What do you want your legacy to be?
I want people to remember me as a person who opened the world’s eyes to the fact that many people in the coming older generation of boomers, and possibly generations to follow, don’t have the safety net of adult children as we get older. And we need to plan in many ways what want to be, who we will be around and how we will avoid isolation and loneliness.


Sara Zeff Geber: Offering Retirement Advice for Solo Agers

Richard Eisenberg

(Across caregiving and community, business and intergenerational attitudes, the pandemic and how we respond to it could change us forever. Next Avenue turned to some of our Influencers in Aging, a diverse group of thought leaders, for their insights, counsel and opinions of what could lie ahead — if we choose.)
News stories today are full of articles on how to depend on family support systems for help during the pandemic. These stories range from the serious “What to do with your children if you get sick” to the more mundane “How do I keep from killing my spouse as we try to share an office?”
But what about the older adults who have no spouse or nearby children? I call them “solo agers.”
Solo agers are part of our communities. They live in suburban homes, metropolitan apartments, rural farmhouses and mobile home parks everywhere. Most solo agers are active in their communities and interest groups, devoting their time and energy to civic and nonprofit organizations, food banks, book clubs, gyms and service organizations.
Under normal circumstances, these activities are a necessary and sufficient social outlet for solo agers. Today, these same vibrant, active solo agers are confined to their homes — alone. As a society, I think we have the responsibility of making sure all our members stay connected to the outside world and to one another.
Take Time to Reach Out
If you are a solo ager, reach out to those same people you used to see on a regular basis before the shelter-in-place orders took effect. Use email or the telephone as an initial contact point, then set up virtual face-to-face get-togethers on Skype, Zoom, FaceTime, or whatever app you prefer.
As a society, I think we have the responsibility of making sure all our members stay connected to the outside world and to one another.
If you are not a solo ager, I bet you know someone who is. Reach out and connect to them. If you are sheltering with family members, solo agers may be reluctant to reach out to you, thinking all your time and energy needs to be focused on those in your household.
That’s likely not the case at all, and you can reassure the solo agers in your life that they matter to you by connecting via video technology. Engage them on a regular basis as much as possible.
Create a Buddy System
Going a step beyond those vital connections, what happens if you are a solo ager and you get sick during this pandemic and need help?


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Under normal circumstances, when solo agers get sick, they typically call one of their close friends, tell them they need some help and the friend brings groceries or drives them to the doctor. Obviously, that has to be modified during a pandemic. But it doesn’t mean you should abandon that buddy system. Moreover, if you are a solo ager and don’t have a current arrangement like that with a friend, this a good time to initiate one.
In our current situation, even while you are well, it’s important to check in with each other, at least several times a week, and ideally once a day. Make sure you both have all the supplies (ibuprofen or acetaminophen, a thermometer, cough lozenges, etc.) you need to take care of yourself if you do get sick. These can be ordered and delivered to your door by most large pharmacy chains.
Make sure you each have sufficient food in the house, including soups and juices to help you stay hydrated. Build lists of these essentials together and review them often.
If one of you begins to have symptoms of COVID-19 and becomes frightened, step up the contact. Check in with each other several times a day. You should each know the other’s primary physician’s phone number and the number of the emergency room at each other’s nearest hospital.
If your friend begins having trouble breathing or starts running a fever of over 102 degrees, call 911 and send an ambulance to take them to the hospital. You won’t be going along, but you can ensure they are getting the help they need.
Locked Down and Alone
We all need to remember, too, that some solo agers reside in retirement and assisted living communities. These are normally pleasant, congenial places where older adults in their 80s, 90s, and 100s live and receive help from staff with the activities of daily living, as the need arises.
Residents usually eat together, gather in groups to discuss the events of the day, engage in exercise classes or play competitive board games or cards. Many of us have family members who live in these communities.
As I write this, communities for older adults throughout the country are “locked down.” That means the residents are confined to their rooms and no outside visitors are allowed on the premises.These residents are now very much alone. Where once they spent the greater part of their day socializing with other residents or receiving visits from family, now they sit in their rooms and apartments alone.
If you know a resident in a senior community, you would be doing a grand deed (or mitzvah, as we say in Yiddish) to step up your communication with them during this lockdown.
I have a 96-year old cousin who lives in an assisted living community. Her daughter or I used to visit or take her to lunch several times a month. This past month, we have both been calling her every day. Her vision and hearing won’t allow a video connection, so we just use the telephone. Without these calls, the only person she would see or talk to all day is one aide who drops in to help her dress and bathe and another who delivers her meals.
There are hundreds of thousands of our elders in these communities. If you know a resident in a senior community, you would be doing a grand deed (or mitzvah, as we say in Yiddish) to step up your communication with them during this lockdown.
If you don’t have a personal connection to an elder in a senior living community and you would like to serve in this way, I suggest calling one of these communities in your town and letting a staffer there know that you would like to be a contact point for a resident. I think they will be delighted to make the connection and introduction for you. You can take it from there and build your relationship through phone calls — or maybe even video chats — several times a week.


Solo Agers Need Connection Now More Than Ever

Sara Zeff Geber

(This article is adapted from the new book, Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers: A retirement and aging roadmap for single and childless adults by Sara Zeff  Geber, Ph.D.)
For boomers without children (Solo Agers), an important question to answer is: What happens when I am no longer physically or mentally able to make decisions for myself?
Many decisions have to be made to create documents such as an advance health care directive or durable power of attorney for health care (called a “living will” in some states); a durable power of attorney for finances and a last will and testament. The act of creating them will force you to survey your support system and determine who you want to make decisions for you if you are physically and/or mentally unable to make them for yourself.
When You Don't Have a Someone to Make Decisions for You
Feeling squeamish about all this? Here is what happens if you become incapacitated and you have not executed these documents: a court judge will put your case into a conservatorship and will appoint someone (a conservator or guardian) to make decisions on your behalf — a “paid guardian.” The court may not appoint the person you would have selected, especially if they are not related to you or named in any document.
The decisions the conservator makes for your care may be totally different from what you would have chosen for yourself. No matter how vehemently your loved ones argue on your behalf, the conservator will make decisions independently, or in conjunction with a court judge — based on their own belief system and preferences.
Who Could Be Your 'Agent'
If you are married or have a life partner, you will likely select your spouse/partner as the primary “agent” or appointee for your health care decisions. Your attorney will strongly encourage you to name at least one other person, and even a third, in case your spouse or partner and the first designee predecease you or become incapacitated. Singles should also name secondary and tertiary agents in their planning.
If you come from a large family and are close to your siblings and their children, you have the advantage of a long-term, well-known support system. Your job will be to choose the ones you are closest to or the ones you see as the most stable, adding them as agents in you documents and having a discussion with them about what you have done and what you expect of them.
On the other hand, what if you do not have a close-knit family? What if your family members have values so different from yours that you would rather not name any of them as your agent? Now you must select among your friends, and that sets up a dilemma if all your friends are around your same age.
If you are among the many child-free boomers who have spent their entire lives associating with like-minded, like-aged people, now is the time to step out of that box.
Okay, maybe you know some younger people, but how do you go from knowing who they are to becoming close enough to ask them to be an agent on one or more of your estate and long-term planning documents?
Time and cultivation. Even though most of your wishes will be spelled out in the documents already mentioned, only with familiarity and a true friendship will they feel confident having your power of attorney and believing they understand your values and what you want in your oldest years.
Hiring a Professional
If you are still uneasy about whom you could name as your agent, you may want to consider a professional to take over your affairs and your decision-making if you become incapable of doing so yourself.
Today, an increasing number of forward-thinking people are being proactive in seeking out a professional private guardian — someone they have met and with whom they are comfortable — to take over their affairs if they become unable to care for themselves and manage their lives in a safe and secure manner.
In most states this professional is referred to as a private guardian. In a few states (e.g., California and Arizona) you would seek out a “professional fiduciary.”
A professional guardian is an individual who assumes a position of responsibility and trust over the affairs of a person who can no longer act in their own behalf. Often appointed by probate court, the professional guardian is charged with the responsibility of managing many of the day- to-day affairs of individuals who can no longer do so for themselves. Being a competent professional guardian is a complex job and may require expertise in the law, accounting, real estate, taxes, and more.
You will want to consider whom you trust to make these kinds of arrangements for you on an ongoing basis, potentially for months or years. If you have a family member or friend you think would perform these duties for you, it’s best to have a conversation with them in advance to make sure they are willing and able.
Choosing the Right Guardian or Fiduciary
If the idea of giving your power of attorney to a professional appeals to you, take time to do some research and be selective about whom you engage for this role. Consider interviewing several individuals. Select the one with whom you feel the most comfortable (and whose references are impeccable). You can then name the person to act as your agent to manage your estate and your personal affairs, and make medical and care decisions should you become mentally or physically incapacitated.
This person will become the “agent” in your durable power of attorney and/or your advance health care directive documents. You can appoint him or her as a co-agent with a friend or relative you trust.
Some of the questions you will want to ask your potential guardian or fiduciary are the following:
What services do you offer? What are your hours?How long have you been practicing and what issues have you encountered and solved?Are you bonded? Insured? Certified by the National Guardian Association or licensed as a professional fiduciary?If you have a staff, what do you delegate to them? What kind of background checks have been done on your staff, and what insurance do you have for employee theft and liability?Do you have knowledge of the medical issues I am facing or may face?What is your succession plan in the event you die or become incapacitated before me?What contingency plans do you have in place for your vacations or unexpected illnesses?What are your fees and when are they billed?In addition to asking these questions, I strongly encourage you to ask for references. Of course, you don’t want your agent to act on your behalf on any matters you are still capable of handling, so be certain to specify in your documents how the decision to turn over these responsibilities will be handled. For instance, at 85, you may be more than ready to turn over your insurance management, bill paying and the hiring and coordination of your care team. You may not want to relinquish decisions about how you manage your financial assets, where you live and what clothing you need.
The Exception: Dementia
You should be the one to decide what you are ready to turn over. The one exception is signs of dementia.
You must understand that anyone who interacts with you on a regular basis may recognize this, contact others who  care about you and together, with your best interests in mind, ask your primary care physician to provide the signature to have you placed under the full care of the guardian or fiduciary you have named in your legal documents.
Fees and Meetings With Your Guardian or Fiduciary
Guardians and fiduciaries charge by the hour. They get paid when their services are needed. Since most of their time is back-end loaded, the majority of their fee will come out of your estate at the time they become active as your agent.
However, I encourage you to consider paying for a yearly meeting, so they can get to know you as well as possible. The better they know you, the more confident they will feel that your needs are being met by their decisions and the more confident you will feel that they will make the right decisions for you.
How to Find One
Finding a professional guardian or fiduciary should not be difficult if you approach the search in the same way you would if you were looking for a competent doctor or dentist. Start by asking people you know. Other good sources are the National Guardianship Association and the Professional Fiduciary Associations in states where fiduciaries are licensed. If you have an attorney, he or she will be able to connect you with at least one such professional.
Your attorney (or someone in that person’s office) may also be willing to perform those tasks, but a guardian makes their living that way and often charges far less than an attorney or even a legal assistant.


Estate and Long-Term Care Planning Help for Solo Agers

(This article was originally published on Caring.com.)
As age-related health issues make it tougher to get around and stay independent, most older adults at some point will rely on a family member for help. Usually, one or more adult children will step in to provide or arrange for care when that day comes.
But what about those who never had children? These people  are referred to as “childless” or more recently, “childfree.” Who will care for them when they’re no longer able to care for themselves? Author and retirement planning expert, Sara Zeff Geber calls these older adults “solo agers,” and is working to raise awareness about the need for this cohort to plan for their future.
Geber says she often sees solo agers who seem to be in denial about the need to plan for their long-term living and care arrangements. “That led me to the realization that people needed some guidance for what to do for themselves when they don’t have that safety net,” says Geber.
But Geber has also noticed a growing awareness of the importance of long-term care planning among childfree older adults, especially as more of them provide care for their own aging parents. “People are spending time and resources and sometimes opening up their homes to their own aging parents, and they’re seeing the result of people living so much longer today,” Geber says.
Yet, with higher-than-ever life expectancies and a graying boomer population, an AARP study points to a growing gap between the number of older Americans who will need care and the available supply of family caregivers. According to the study, there were seven potential caregivers for every person 80 years and older in 2010, but that ratio is expected to drop to four to one by 2030, and to three to one by 2050.
Among boomers, the rate of solo agers is almost 20 percent. With more people now choosing to forgo parenthood altogether, the number of solo agers is only projected to rise, underscoring the need for a greater emphasis on planning for a future without adult children to call on.
Advantages of Being a 'Solo Ager'
Despite the prevailing wisdom, there are plenty of advantages to being childfree as an older adult. Since childfree older adults never had to shoulder the considerable costs associated with childrearing — the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest estimates put the average cost at about $245,000 per child from birth to age 18, not including higher education costs — they’ve had decades to save more of their income for their later years.
“That money may have been growing since their 20s or 30s rather than being spent on raising children,” Geber says.
She points out that in many cases, these older adults have had more time and space to form strong bonds with friends and to build up a network of close, non-familial relationships. At the same time, many childfree Americans have also been able to develop close relationships with nieces and nephews or other younger relatives.
Once they hit retirement age, childfree older adults typically have more freedom of choice when it comes to where they’ll live. While many parents choose to live close to adult children and grandchildren in their later years, solo agers don’t have progeny to bind them to any one place. Nonetheless, plenty of older childfree adults opt to remain in the communities near long-established networks of friends and acquaintances, Geber notes.
Drawbacks for Childfree Americans
A clear disadvantage of being a childfree older adult is the absence of a built-in safety net to care for you when you need assistance. While not everyone will care for their parents later in life, most do step in to provide some form of help in the event of a serious health issue, Geber notes.
The absence of adult children is perhaps most acutely felt when it comes to end-of-life planning and during the end of life itself. While childfree older adults aren’t necessarily alone in their last days, weeks and months, they won’t have adult children to fall back on during that time.
“In the end, when people are dying, it’s usually those grown kids at their side,” Geber says. “That’s a disadvantage for solo agers that never goes away.”
Yet, when it comes to ensuring that your end-of-life wishes are respected, good planning can make up for most, if not all, of the gap left by the absence of adult children, says Geber.
Housing Options for Childfree Older Adults
Without the prospect of adult children to take them in or help them make decisions about housing in their later years, it’s especially crucial that childfree older adults make decisions early about where they want to live later in life.
The same older adult housing options available to older adults with children are often great choices for childfree older adults, too — from Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs), which allow residents to remain in the same community even after they require assistance with daily living routines, to assisted living communities, board and care facilities or nursing homes when higher levels of care are needed.
Another housing option that’s gaining popularity is co-housing, an arrangement in which a group of older adults or multi-generational residents live in a community of homes specifically designed for aging adults’ changing needs. Community members typically organize regularly scheduled shared activities, meals and events.
Meanwhile, others are opting to age in place with the help of in-home care. Growing numbers of those who choose to remain in their home are now joining what’s known as the village movement, a membership-based network that connects neighbors and provides services such as transportation, yard work and home maintenance. The aim of these villages is to help older adults stay in their homes for as long as possible.
Planning is Crucial
Advanced planning is key to ensure that long-term care and end-of-life preferences are honored, whether someone is a parent or not. But for those without adult children, this planning is even more crucial.
Part of that planning includes going to visit different types of older adult housing (CCRCs, board and care homes, assisted living facilities, etc.) to get an idea of what might someday be the best fit for you, Geber says. For those who plan to age in place, she advises turning to services like Caring.com (where I am a content producer) to learn about in-home care options.
With a clearer idea of the older adult care arrangement you want, the next key piece of the puzzle is having conversations with loved ones (this might include nieces, nephews or other younger relatives you’re close to, or it may mean close friends). Making sure your power of attorney and advance health directive documents are in order is also critical.
“The real key," says Geber, "is to let people know what you want.”
Geber also advises childfree older adults to consider the services of a fiduciary, a financial professional you authorize to act on your behalf. “You can put in the hands of a professional fiduciary the kinds of things you would expect your adult children to do,” she notes.
Next Avenue Editors Also Recommend:
• Choosing a Health Care Proxy When You're an 'Elder Orphan'
• Who Will Provide Care for Childless Boomers?
• 'Elder Orphans' Have a Harder Time Aging in Place


What it Means to Be a Childfree Older Adult

Laura Dixon

This essay is part of Telling Our Stories: Reflections on the Pandemic. We invited readers to share their experiences of the past year, and selected 12 essays for publication on Next Avenue. Read the full collection.When we first went into lockdown, I remember the fear in people's voices as we grappled with our sudden loss of freedom and the anxiety about the possibility of losing loved ones.  Gradually, my own fear was replaced with monotony, punctuated with minor inconveniences. 
I'm 62, still employed as a civil servant, and I live alone. Masking, handwashing and sanitizing have become stylized rituals, easily reversed. If anything has changed permanently, it's my perspective on my own social life. 
In the before times, regular interactions with coworkers, neighbors, friends and a few relatives kept me from feeling the sting of loneliness. I scoffed at occasional allusions to my being perhaps a just a bit too self-reliant. 
I like my own company and although I don't advertise it, I often look forward to long weekends and holidays to satisfy my introverted need for battery recharging. But even for me, a year of alone time has been a challenge.
Without the noise of the usual hubbub to distract me, I've become painfully aware, and frankly terrified, of how thin and fragile my social network really is. 
I've learned how important even the people you don't know well can become when there's a crisis.  Just noticing one of the regulars in my landscape can give me a boost, like the kid down the block who works at a costume store. 
For several years, I've occasionally caught sight of him standing beside his car, smoking a last cigarette before he heads to work, dressed as a different character each time (a chicken, a vampire). I used to shake my head with embarrassment for him. Now I feel oddly sympathetic and also reassured that there's still some normalcy in the world because he apparently hasn't lost his job. 
Or that young woman who moved into the unit at the end of the hall whom I used to regard as a nuisance, with her silly invitations to join her for a margarita on Friday afternoons. Her kindness has been a lifeline for me this past year.
Without the noise of the usual hubbub to distract me, I've become painfully aware, and frankly, terrified, of how thin and fragile my social network really is. I depend too much on too few people. I catch myself trying to forecast what it will be like when my job is in the rearview, more family pass away and friends move to be close to their children. 
Will my life become like an endless weekend of watching TV, reading, emailing, an occasional Zoom call, home projects…kind of like, um, now?  
As I write this — knock on wood — I've been able to make necessary adjustments to keep my life working and no one close to me has gotten sick or lost their job. Even luckier may be this unpleasant preview of retirement.  
Thanks to the pandemic, I've found my next mission, which is to build some redundancy into my support system, starting NOW. I hope my next submission will be about that process and how I'm succeeding in saving my own life. 


The Pandemic: A Preview of Retirement?

Cindy Andersen

Last week, I spent four days at the American Society on Aging’s 2019 Aging in America Conference and the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit, both in New Orleans. My goal: to learn and report on the latest news and trends concerning money, work and volunteering for boomers and Gen Xers. I attended numerous sessions and represented Next Avenue by moderating or presenting at seven. Here are highlights:
The Future of Aging in America
I moderated a panel on The Future of Aging in America, featuring three of Next Avenue’s 2018 Influencers in Aging: Thomas Kamber, executive director of Older Adults Technology Services; Anne Tumlinson, founder of Daughterhood.org and Sara Zeff Geber, president and owner of LifeEncore and author of Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers (solo agers are people aging alone). Each spoke about what most concerned them about the future of aging in America, what they were most optimistic about and where the future of aging in America is heading.
Kamber was the most ebullient, though he was concerned that programming for older adults was not fully engaging them and offering opportunities. They’re looking for “a sense of meaning” in their lives, Kamber said.
Tumlinson was especially concerned about Americans’ ability to pay for long-term-care, a topic she’s been working on for more than two decades. “I’m frustrated more aging professionals aren’t talking about this,” she said. Tumlinson didn’t expect the federal government to do much to help, but thought states might. And she was particularly optimistic about young Americans’ interest in solving the nation’s caregiving issues. “Gen Z takes the future very seriously,” she noted.
Geber, a solo ager, said she thought financial services companies should pay more attention, and offer more guidance, to older people without family members. These people often need to find someone to speak for them if they become unable to make decisions about their finances or their health. Many solo agers, however, resort to what Geber calls “magical thinking,” assuming that they’ll “live healthfully until they suddenly die peacefully in their sleep after a fabulous day at the beach and an amazing dinner.” But, she added, “you know that’s not reality for so many people.”
Elder Fraud and Financial Exploitation
A panel of experts on elder fraud and financial exploitation were adamant that these scourges remain huge problems for older Americans and their loved ones. The data backs them up: A recent Comparitech.com study estimated there are 5 million cases of elder fraud in the United States annually, resulting in $27.4 billion in losses. And most victims don’t report it, due to embarrassment, said Leita King, fraud, scams and ID theft protection coordinator at Lifespan of Greater Rochester.
These days, Social Security scams and “romance” scams are especially prevalent. Hazel Heckers, victim assistance coordinator at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, told the sad story of a Colorado man, now 97, who sent women he didn’t know over $3 million, despite warnings from law enforcement.
“The only way we got him to stop sending money was that one of my agents went out to his house and said he was going to arrest the man if he gave away any more money,” Heckers said. “He said: ‘Go ahead and arrest me, I don’t care. I’m going to keep sending the money.’” When Heckers’ team asked him why, he said, “She makes me feel like a man again.”
Isolation and loneliness are a key reason so many older adults get scammed, Heckers said. “They actually answer the phone,” she added. “I can’t tell you the last time I answered a phone without Caller ID.”
Liz Keith of probono.net and Molly White of the Center for Elder Law & Justice described a new app they’ve introduced in upstate New York, called the Legal Risk Detector. It helps law enforcement and caregivers identify potential fraud issues of homebound, vulnerable older adults and then connect the potential victims with local legal services providers.
Family Caregiving and Work
One hot topic about working: handling, and affording, responsibilities of family caregiving for a parent, spouse or partner. Most of the nation’s 24 million family caregivers are workers age 50 and older, said Lynn Friss Feinberg, senior strategic policy advisor for the AARP Public Policy Institute. And 63% of them care for someone 65+.
But family caregiving “comes at a substantial cost” for many, Friss Feinberg said — “emotional strain, financial burdens, lost career opportunities and retirement security.”
One reason: “Paid family leave is not available to most workers,” said Friss Feinberg. The 1993 federal Family and Medical Leave Act requires some employers to provide employees with up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave. But the leave is unpaid and the law excludes employers with fewer than 50 employees, making it available to only 60% of the workforce.
It also doesn’t cover loved ones such as an in-law, an uncle or aunt, a grandparent or a niece or nephew. “That’s a real wake-up call for workers who think they have [family and medical leave] rights but may not,” said Friss Feinberg.
While some employers do offer paid family leave, only 13% of private-sector workers had access to that benefit in 2017, she noted. And often, this leave is limited to new parents taking time to care for a new child.
Some states, however, are “leading the way to enact paid family leave programs,” said Friss Feinberg.
So far, six states and Washington, D.C., have passed laws. Paid leave policies are due to take effect in Washington state and Massachusetts in the next few years. “Twenty one states have paid family leave legislation moving forward,” said Friss Feinberg. “Hopefully, we’ll have paid family leave in them in the next five years.”
One novel idea I heard that would assist family caregivers: Universal Family Care. It’s a policy proposal from a National Academy of Social Insurance study panel and will be unveiled in detail June 24.
The idea is to create state-run social insurance programs protecting families against the financial risks of three (often interrelated) caregiving risks: long-term services and supports (in plain English: long-term care costs); paid family and medical leave and early child care and education.
Under this proposal, state residents would pay into the Universal Family Care program, likely through a payroll tax. “Everyone would contribute and everyone could benefit,” said Benjamin Veghte, research director of Caring Across Generations nonprofit.
Starting and Running a Boomer Business
Speakers at several panels offered advice on launching, and running, a boomer business.
Next Avenue blogger Kerry Hannon suggested doing it by “riding the age wave” — finding a way to profit from the aging of America. Three possibilities she noted: senior-fitness trainer; a home modification pro to help people age in place and a patient advocate to help people deal with medical bills and avoid being overcharged.
At the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit, Sharon Emek described how she created the successful WAHVE business by tapping into the need of older knowledge workers to supplement their income and stay engaged. WAHVE (which stands for Work at Home Vintage Experts) matches people over 50 who want to work at home part-time or full-time with companies looking for experts in insurance, accounting and human resources.
“These workers feel they have to have purpose and meaning in their lives,” said Emek, who’s based in New York City. That’s something San Francisco entrepreneur Justin Lin said about the older workers at his elder-concierge service, Envoy; 80% of his workers are women and 34% are 50+.
“WAHVE dispels two myths,” said Emek. “One is that people who are retired or pre-tired are not tech savvy. And the other is that they’ll be slower and less productive than other employees.” Today, Emek has 400 clients and the surveys she’s conducted with them regularly say her WAHVE workers are highly productive and have computer skills as good or better than the firms’ other employees.
Pat Campbell, now in the process of starting her third business — selling high-quality CBD products — talked about avoiding repeating earlier mistakes and about launching a company “to support women.”
For her new company, Olina Life, based in Nashville, Campbell decided to avoid looking for financing. Instead, “I gave up most of the equity of my company” to a strategic partner, she said. “In my last two startups I spent 80% of my time chasing money. I will never do that again.”
Encore Careers and Volunteering in Retirement
I also heard some fascinating new research about why older adults volunteer and embark on encore careers for the greater good.
Jim Emerman, executive vice president of Encore.org, described his group’s Encore Fellows program. The Fellows are people over 50 matched up by Encore to volunteer at nonprofits for about 1,000 hours each, earning a stipend of $20,000 to $25,000. They’re brought in to deploy their high-quality skills to help the nonprofits grow. Typically, Emerman said, they bring program or project management experiences as well as team leadership and organizational management backgrounds.
When Encore.org asked the nonprofits about their experience with the program, they were told things that directly contradict employers’ stereotypes of older workers.
The nonprofit execs said the Fellows had the greatest impact on their organizations by bringing “new and useful tools” and “new and useful approaches to work.”
Helen Spence, the Ottawa-based CEO of Top 60 After 60, described her research interviewing people 55+ about their views on work and age. The participants also attended ReSet, a program to support the transition of people 55 and older.
Roughly a quarter of the people said they wanted to “engage in an activity that had real meaning for them” or to “finally do what they liked after having worked for many years with financial security as their main objective.” Many felt a need to “redefine themselves” and most felt their age negatively impacted job opportunities.
And Jeanne Nakamura and Maria Axner, of Claremont Graduate University, discussed their new research studying what older highly-committed volunteers (those volunteering five or more hours a week) and nominees for the Purpose Prize felt were the costs and benefits of doing work for the greater good. (The Purpose Prize is an award given by AARP — formerly from Encore.org — to older social entrepreneurs.)
The participants were tracked for a week and required to report at regular intervals about how they felt about what they were doing. “We took 5,000 snapshots into the moments of their lives to see what they were doing and what they were thinking about,” said Nakamura.
Among the findings: they found participants were excited about the work they were doing but also stressed. The Purpose Prize nominees were particularly stressed. Overall, the researchers found many benefits were greater for the volunteers and the costs were higher for the Purpose Prize nominees.
My conclusion: serious volunteering in the second half of life or starting a nonprofit to serve others can be extremely rewarding. But launching a nonprofit can be much more stressful.


Aging in America: News and Trends From 2 Summits

My family is all dead, and I never married or had children. The new term for people like me is “solo ager” or "elder orphan." Aging alone highlights the dilemma of what to do when you need help managing your health, finances and the disposition of your estate because you can't. With no family or friends to name as trustee or executor, what does one do?
My lawyer said I needed to hire a private fiduciary. That is someone who will step in and take over, should I become unwilling or unable to handle my affairs. Someone to see that I get medical attention when needed. Someone to carry out my final instructions when the time comes. I didn't know anyone I thought could take on this responsibility.
My lawyer gave me two referrals to fiduciaries he knew. His parting words were "Don't procrastinate. This should be an easy decision." But it wasn't quick or easy.
Finding a fiduciary has turned out to be the most daunting, arduous and important decision I have had to make at this phase of life.
What is "easy" about turning your health, your money and ultimately, everything you own, over to a stranger? And how do you make a decision like that quickly?
Finding a fiduciary has turned out to be the most daunting, arduous and important decision I have had to make at this phase of life (I'm a boomer). Here’s my five-step plan to finding one, and how — if you're a solo ager — you can hire a fiduciary, too.
The First Step
I began my fiduciary journey with targeted research.
In Arizona, where I live, the Administrative Office of the Supreme Court licenses fiduciaries. There are 14 pages of public and private fiduciaries listed on its website, along with  all the complaints that have been filed against the fiduciaries and the outcomes.
This site — and your state may have a similar one — let me glean a lot of useful information: how fiduciaries operate, their reporting obligations and their internal policies and procedures.
On the court’s site, I verified that the two referrals my lawyer gave me were licensed. I also learned they each had complaints filed against them, albeit mostly minor in nature.
I wanted more names to consider, so I searched the internet for local fiduciaries. I also called estate planning lawyers, and asked which fiduciaries they referred their clients to try.
A few names began to pop up repeatedly. I called them for interviews and looked at their company websites. But all my research left me feeling lost and overwhelmed.
The Second Step
I took some deep breaths, and acknowledged I had fears, concerns and a lot of "what ifs." Who wouldn't? Among them:
How will I know the best fiduciary to hire?Will the people I interview still be working there when I need them?What if the fiduciary sticks me in some crummy group home and robs my estate?What about elder abuse?What if I have dementia and the fiduciary takes advantage of me?What if the fiduciary forces medications on me I don't want to take?What if the fiduciary doesn't follow my instructions?How do I trust a complete stranger?What else should I be considering?The Third Step
I interviewed seven fiduciaries over the course of six months.
I’ve listed some of my questions below. You undoubtedly will come up with others for your situation, but hopefully these will serve as a guideline.
Here are the questions I learned to ask:
How long have you been a fiduciary?What are your qualifications?What professional licenses do you hold?What local, state or national fiduciary organizations are you a member of?How many clients do you have?How many people work in your firm and what are their areas of expertise?What is your employee turnover rate?What is your succession plan?How often do you raise your rates? By what percentage?What are your current charges and fees to: open a file, keep me on "standby" status, administer services as an "active" client, mail a letter or send an email, make a phone call and to finalize my estate?How do you keep in contact with me until I need your services?How will you know if I need your help?What if I am unable to contact you?Do you have three client references I can call?Have you ever had a complaint filed against you or your firm? For what? What was the disposition?What is the average size of the estate you handle?What happens to my pets?How will you get into my house?How do you store house keys, entry codes and my personal information?What is the average cost to close an estate of my size?What happens if my estate runs out of money?The Fourth Step
My fourth and final step was making the decision, which I finally did after months of research and interviews, reviewing all my notes and sleeping on it for several days.
The fiduciary I decided to hire seemed head and shoulders above the rest. I felt OK with my decision and a sense of relief. But not really a sense of peace.
I informed my attorney and he prepared the paperwork to make it official. Then I contacted the fiduciary and asked what the next steps would be.
It is now several months later, but not much has happened. I have not completed all of the fiduciary’s paperwork, nor has the firm contacted me to ask why. They also don’t have my house keys or entry code either.
Do I still think my decision was a good one? Yes, sort of. At least someone is in place should something happen. And I can always hire another fiduciary if I find someone “better.”
The Fifth Step (Not Yet Taken)
There is still one more step I need to take: Appoint a trust protector.
That is someone who can "look over the shoulder" of the fiduciary, and has the power to fire them if necessary. A trust protector is someone who could receive my medical reports and financial statements as well as monitor the performance and fees of the fiduciary.
Ideally, that person would be much younger than me, someone willing to step in and to keep an eye out. Someone who would be available in 10 years — or tomorrow.
It’s not easy to find someone like that. It is not something you ask of an acquaintance or of a friend's child or grandchild. I am concerned about this step. But hopeful, I will eventually find someone.
Because we don’t know how we’ll age, it’s critical to get your “team” in order before you need them. Hopefully, this article will make your “journey” easier.


A Solo Ager's 5-Step Plan to Finding a Fiduciary

Jodi Weisberg

Why are so many Americans over 65 self-employed? If you’re thinking the answer lies in Nelly’s lyrics, “Hey, must be the money!” you are mistaken.
Photographer Frank GallagherAt least that’s what three researchers found in their recent research looking at self-employment and contract work by age.
“In some cases, financial necessity is the primary driver,” wrote Katharine G. Abraham, Brad Hershbein and Susan Houseman in their National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) paper, Contract Work at Older Ages. “In other cases, motivations such as the desire to stay active, connect with others, or pursue a hobby may be more important.”
"Self-employment among older workers is a lot more common than we think it is.”
That’s exactly what I heard when I spoke with a variety of people in their late 60s and early 70s about what led them to become self-employed at this time of life. (Of course, many others work after 65+ because they need the money.) As much as those I talked to said they’re glad about the self-employment income, the psychic rewards are even greater.
Fun as a Professional Photographer
“I’m having fun. I’m as happy in my work as I ever have been,” said Frank Gallagher, 65, of Silver Spring, Md. He spent 25 years working as an executive in nonprofit educational technology and is now a part-time photographer as well as a blog editor.
Gallagher calls his new life “a marriage of two of my passions: photography and making the world a better place through nonprofit and volunteer work.”
Judith Henry, artistJudith Henry, of Tampa, Fla., had a successful career in management and left it in 2017 at 65. She then wrote The Dutiful Daughter’s Guide to Caregiving: A Practical Memoir, which she calls “the book I could have used during my six years caring for my parents.” These days, Henry — who blogs at Late Bloomer and calls herself “a bohemian soul with a bean counter’s brain” — is selling her artwork: paintings, collages, stitchery and cards.
“Writing the book was not about the money. If you write a book you find that out very quickly,” said Henry. Now as an artist, she noted: “When someone buys one of my pieces, it’s like having a heart-to-heart conversation. That’s gold, baby!”
The Dramatic Rise in Self-Employment By Age
Self-employment in America now rises sharply with age, especially after 65, the NBER researchers noted in their report. While just under 20% of workers age 18 to 49 are self-employed, 25% of those 55 to 59 are, 46% of those 65 to 69 are and 68% of those 75 to 79 are. “Self-employment among older workers is a lot more common than we think it is,” said Hershbein, a senior economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research and one of the paper’s authors.
The older self-employed aren’t always what you might think of as traditional small business owners, running brick-and-mortar enterprises. Often, as the NBER economists learned after conducting a Gallup survey of 61,000 Americans, they’re independent contractors working from home.
“Most of the rise in self-employment rates at older ages is due to independent contracting work, not small businesses in the conventional sense,” said Hershbein.
And less than half of independent contractors age 65 to 69 that Gallup surveyed said earning income was the main reason; about a third of those age 70 to 79 said that.
Who Older Independent Contractors Typically Are
Said Hershbein: “Independent-contractor work as people get older is because they want to do it, not to make ends meet.”
But that’s a rarified world.
The older independent contractors, Hershbein noted, are overwhelming highly educated and often come from managerial or professional occupations. What they’re frequently looking for, he said, “is more control over their life.”
“In normal circumstances, I’d work twenty hours a week on my photography business. In the pandemic, it’s more like ten hours.”
That rings a bell with Janine Vanderburg, 67, of Denver, who left the consulting firm she ran in 2017. Now, Vanderburg is director and chief catalyst at Changing the Narrative Colorado, a campaign to increase understanding of ageism and shift how Coloradans think about aging.
Art by Judith Henry“One of the things that has become really important to me is to never have to do the things I hated doing,” says Vanderburg. “I didn’t want to manage staff or operate according to any schedule outside of my own or deal with administrative stuff or work with people I didn’t want to work with.”
What About the Money?
What she did want to do was find a way to be useful in the fields she has dedicated herself to over the years: social justice and social change. As for the money part…
“Money is a way we measure value in society. I think it’s important as we age to get paid for our work. Often, there’s a big push telling older people to just step to the side and volunteer. We should be paid for the value we bring to the table,” said Vanderburg.
Rosemary Cass, of Fairfield, Conn., retired from her executive search business to follow her passion for writing. She then published a print magazine for three years and has converted it into the blog “for boomers, seniors and caregivers,” Seeing It Clearly Now. “Love it! Meets many needs other than money,” she said in an email.
Roughly a quarter of older independent contractors work at least some of the time for their former employers, according to the NBER research. “They have a lot of skill sets that their former employers still want,” said Hershbein.
And these independent contractor boomerangers are why government figures for the number of older self-employed Americans are lower than reality, said Hershbein. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, he noted, assumes that if people say they’re working for an employer, they must be employees.
What Will the Coronavirus Outbreak Mean?
Given that 57% of workers plan to work full-time or part-time in retirement, according to a new Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies survey, what will the pandemic mean for self-employment and independent contractor work for people 65+?
“That will be a really interesting question,” said Hershbein. “My sense is that people who are employees now will probably be reluctant to retire or quit if they can keep their job. But quite possibly, for those who are sixty-five plus who were working and got the news of possibly being laid off, rather than waiting for that, they might think, ‘Now’s the time’ [to retire]. That’s more ‘I see the writing on the wall.’”
Hershbein thinks some employers will use the coronavirus outbreak to retool and start using more independent contractors, rather than full-time employees.
Some older self-employed people have learned or improved skills during the pandemic to keep their operations running.
“Over the last two months, I regret my January resolution for the year to become an expert in [the video-conferencing service] Zoom,” Vanderburg joked. In reality, she has switched her in-person events to Zoom conversations.
But the pandemic is already cutting into the work availability for many older self-employed people and causing others in their 60s to postpone launches.
Prototypical gig-economy independent contractor jobs, like Uber or Lyft driver, have shriveled, though they’re a small share of all independent contractor work. Only 2% to 2.6% of workers ages 65 to 79 are employed through a platform or mobile app, according to the Gallup survey.
“In normal circumstances, I’d work twenty hours a week on my photography business,” said Gallagher. “In the pandemic, it’s more like ten hours.”
A Great New Life After The Great Recession
Cheryl Comento, older adult assistance entrepreneurCheryl Comento, 73, of Campbell, Calif., was laid off from her home design job during The Great Recession. So, she opened a senior-move management business and now runs two part-time businesses to help older adults and their families: Living Thru Transition and Above N Beyond Senior Placement.
For Comento, it’s all about pursuing her passion and interacting with people. “Ever since I was a child, I liked talking to seniors and listening to their stories and connecting with them. I thought this is a good time of life to do that,” she said.
Also, Comento added, as a solo ager with no family near her, “my social interaction is through my business. I love talking to people and helping people. When the money comes in, that’s nice as well.”
Vanderburg told me she couldn’t be happier. “I wake up every day to do something fun and enjoyable,” she said.
(This article is part of America’s Entrepreneurs, a Next Avenue initiative made possible by the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation and EIX, the Entrepreneur and Innovation Exchange.)


Why Many People Really Start Businesses in Retirement

Deciding on a new city to call home after 50 can be best approached if you think like an informed consumer. That means doing your research. You are effectively buying an area's offerings of a new lifestyle, and your new place in life.
You may be a grandparent who wants to live near grandchildren. You may be a divorced or married empty nester, or a solo ager with freedom to choose any city. That freedom presents many opportunities, along with challenges in making your final selection.
I’ve been developing a planning guide called Project MNP (My New Place) to help fellow 50+ers find a new place in life, including a new city if relocation is a goal. Short term rentals, AirBnB sublets and other arrangements can let you test out a place and live like a local, not a tourist. However, this becomes cost prohibitive if you have multiple cities in mind. To shorten your list, start with an online search.
Here are 10 of my top recommendations for relocating after 50:
1. Get the most out of your Google searches. Be kind to yourself by keeping your online research of cities under a tight focus. You’ll avoid information overload and unproductive hours online. The goal is to curate the best information from the sources that provide transparency.
2. Ask a smart speaker for help. Alexa is becoming a trusted companion to older adults. This type of smart speaker and others like it (hands-free, digital voice-activated assistants) could be your time saver in finding quality data about your city of interest.
In a recent CityLab article, Have a Question About Your City? Ask Alexa, assistant editor Linda Poon described how local governments are starting to use smart speakers as “an easy way to connect people to services and information.” As Poon noted, local governments can communicate with residents and provide a city’s crime data, neighborhood arrests, zoning and more.
3. Be aware of the difference between city data based on transparency and destination marketing. Convention and visitors’ bureaus, chambers of commerce, tourist boards, city magazines, local hospitality industries and even local real estate companies have a common objective. They're in the business of destination marketing. You will find beautifully styled websites, photos, videos and ads that promote the area as the ideal place to live, visit, work, invest and run a business.
These organizations will serve you well when you are looking for inspiration about the city’s best offerings. However, no city is 100 percent ideal. You will need to look elsewhere for full disclosure on the city’s weaknesses, or at least realities. For example, a convention and visitors bureau will not boast that its city has a high crime rate, an opioid crisis, an affordable housing shortage or few services for older adults.
4. Resist the temptation to compare your current city to your future city. Over the years I have met fellow NY-LA transplants. We regularly compared the two cities. One would favor the home city, and complain about living in the other. Looking back, I now see how this mindset can lead to becoming perpetually miserable with a relocation. Cities have their own unique quirks and qualities. Embrace the change, and look forward to your new lifestyle.
5. Rely on city rankings, but not just one. City rankings can make your research much easier, with caveats. There are multitudes of rankings out there, each with different results. And you may not find just one city ranking list with the methodology and sources that would match your unique preferences in finding the ideal place for you.
Keep focused on what matters most for what you want and need. Here are several examples of popular city rankings, each with different methodologies and results:
U.S. News and World Report’s 2018 Best Places to Live methodology is based on good value, desirable place to live, strong job market and quality of life. (The summary mentions millennials.)
U.S. News and World Report’s 2019 Best Places to Retire methodology is based on happiness of local residents, housing affordability, tax rates and health care quality.
Milken Institute on Aging’s 2017 Best Cities for Successful Aging ranks large and small cities separately.
6. Go hyperlocal. If you are considering a move to a large urban area with distinctly different neighborhoods, you may have to dig deeper than the major newspapers and social media channels to get a feel for the city.
In Washington, D.C., where I live, I tune in to the Twitter feeds of the D.C. police department, local news stations, the Capital Weather Gang from The Washington Post and Facebook pages for neighborhood groups.
Neighborhood newspapers are usually free and accessible online and cover local news that never hits the pages of large papers. Patch is a free online hyperlocal news platform that serves over 1,200 communities nationwide. Think of these small newspapers and sites as your magnifying glass to view neighborhoods within a large city.
7. Learn how much the city cares about older residents. When choosing a new city to call home after 50, we need to ask ourselves: Does the city pay attention to our demographic? What does the area have now, and what is being planned, for older residents?
Atlanta sets a good example. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Aging in Atlanta provides online news and information for older residents. State and city aging services there are numerous, including the Georgia Department of Human Services’ Division of Aging Services and its Atlanta Regional Commission Aging Division.
Research a city and state government’s Department of Aging. Look into issues that are important to you.
8. Walk the city, virtually. Before you visit, get to know streets and residential neighborhoods using Google Maps. Type in an address, and in most cases, you can view streets and sidewalks.
9. Become a local resident online, ahead of your visit. Meeting like-minded people virtually will help you develop a sense of belonging. At the same time, you may also find that you don't relate to locals. Exploring this early on can save you from making a mistake about your move. You can sign up online for meetup groups and receive newsletters for neighborhood associations, religious organizations and many other local community events. Let your interests guide you.
10. Listen to your emotions and instincts. Choosing a city to live in is an emotional decision, especially later in life. After all of the online research and local visits, the only task left to do is to have an honest discussion with yourself. You will be the one to find your own place.


10 Things to Consider When Relocating After 50

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